LACC 2018: Valiant Talks Up Valiant Beyond, Bloodshot Movie & More

by Gary Catig

Late Saturday morning, Valiant Entertainment held a panel at L.A. Comic Con for people new and old to the publisher. Mel Caylo, Director of Marketing, and Emily Hecht, Sales & Social Media Manager, spoke to the audience not only about their more popular characters and titles but some of their new upcoming series. It served as a combination of their Beginner’s Guide and Valiant Beyond presentations they’ve given at previous shows.

Caylo and Hecht began with an introduction to the Valiant Universe for those unfamiliar. They believe their titles can be separated into three avenues including the sci-fi explorers, the street level superbeings and the sleuths, spies and sorcerers, which can be referred to as the “Weird Pocket”. They then discussed some of their series and the essential readings in order to get caught up and gain a better idea of each character. They talked about X-O Manowar, Harbinger Renegades, Ninja-K, Shadowman and Rai. Specifically, with Rai, it was teased at NYCC that he might be making a comeback. Caylo confirmed he will and more news will be coming out in the next couple of months.

The pair then transitioned into future titles like The Life and Death of Toyo Harada and their Valiant Beyond Wave. The wave includes Faith: Dreamside, which is out now, Livewire, Incursion and Bloodshot: Rising Spirit. Incursion is the February event about how Earth chooses a protector known as the Geomancer. However, there are other planets out there and do they have their own protectors? For the comic, the main villain is the Imperatrix Virago. They even showed some artwork from Incursion, due out in February 2019.

Bloodshot: Rising Spirit, out in November, will be the definitive origin story of the titular character. It will also contain parallels to the upcoming feature from Sony. Caylo then chatted about the movie and how star, Vin Diesel, recently wrapped up shooting his scenes. Though he remained tight lipped about Valiant’s first cinematic foray, he did say there will be good nods and winks to the Valiant Universe that fans can enjoy. He then placed up on the screen the Rai tease but it was unclear if it was only referencing his announcement earlier, or if the character would play a role in the film.

Overall, it’s a good time to be a Valiant enthusiast. They have current series starring fan favorites, upcoming exciting titles and even future content in other mediums like the big screen.

Gary Catig

Gary Catig is west coast raised, east coast educated, and has a touch of southern charm. He has spent most of his adult life making science fiction a reality as an engineer conducting research in the military, microprocessor, and biotechnology fields. While currently living in San Diego, he enjoys all facets of pop culture including but not limited to comics, TV, movies, and music.